Monday, February 22, 2016

That's right. There are now a full month's worth of posts about my kids sleeping, or not sleeping, or ripping apart things - wooden bed frames, mattresses, etc. They say children are the most innocent and cute when they are asleep. My kids are just confusing.

Monday, February 15, 2016

The kids love doing any science kit so when I said they were each going to find 2 fossils, they were thrilled.

She thought it would be easy so she started with a brush.

He started with more of a brute force approach.

Here are the results. The tray on the left had all of the sand and tools they used (except all of the sand on the floor of course). The 4 cards show what they found. In the bottom right corner of each card you see a lighter colored box. The kids placed what they found in those boxes. It's difficult to see in the photo, but they found a shark tooth and three types of shells. All in all, a dirty and fun project.

Friday, February 12, 2016

When I bought the giant doll house, it came fully furnished, but without a family. I found multiple family sets at a local store and picked the one that most closely resembled us. (They had 4 different skin color sets.) It had 8 pieces - Grandmother, Grandfather, Dad, Mom, Boy, Girl, Toddler, and Baby. What I didn't know at the time is that the family's main occupation would be modeling. Here are some of their group shots.

Here they stand in a loose group on top of a table. Photo by Sweet Daughter

Here they are lined up - only the toddler has been replaced with a rubber hockey duck. Such is life. Photo by Sweet Daughter

Here are the 8 of them with the duck. Photo by Sweet Son

I cut down the photos to the best 3. There were so many of these people it was a bit crazy.
(How is it the dolls are in so much better shape than we are? Shouldn't they offer a variety of body types in addition to races? Sorry, just rambling off topic.)

Thursday, February 11, 2016

One of our fun art projects in the curriculum is paper weaving. The kids started by picking their colors. and cutting one paper into strips. Then the other paper was folded in half and cut into lines, but not all the way to the end.

Here Sweet Daughter is working with her pink/purple papers. She cut her strips fairly wide and loved this project.

Sweet Son selected yellow/orange and cut very small strips. His took much longer to complete, but it also turned out really well.

When they were finished I had both laminated and they used them for placemats. This is a great fine motor activity and the final products were impressive.

Friday, February 5, 2016

My kids love building things. We have Legos, Keva Planks, cardboard blocks, and magnetic plastic blocks. I had never heard of these, but now I'm wondering if you have. Have any of my readers played with these? Are they awesome? How do they compare to the other options? Clearly this post wasn't written by me, but it did get my attention and I wanted to share it.
One of the oldest and most reliable toys that children have played with for centuries is the simple wooden block. It's versatile, safe and most of all fun. While standard wooden blocks are still fun, there have been major innovations and advancements in technology to bring us to where we are now.
The Tegu blocks are an awesome modern twist on a classic toy. These blocks may look simple at first glance, but only when you start to play with them do you realize truly how awesome they are. Tegu blocks come with tiny magnets embedded in the blocks, which means that kids of any can create structures they only ever dreamed of. And with plenty of options, there's a perfect Tegu set for any family!

What Moms are Saying About Tegu

Christina is a mommy of three who shares fun activities for kids on her YouTube channel, The Purple Alphabet. During her video review of the Tegu blocks, she says "It really encourages your child to think creatively... you're gonna get a lot of use out of these over the years."
"Bought these for my 6 year old grandson for Christmas and we now call his creations "the work of a City Planner. " The different shapes and structures take on the look of city skylines with random items like trees, bridges, etc. Geometry was never so much fun." -Deborah F.
"My first reaction was "these are pricey!" but they were highly recommended to me so I gave it a go. Now I can tell they will be loved for years. My 3 year old loves stacking them and clicking them together and a part. I even have fun playing with these and I'm an adult. They are high quality and the colors are great." -Summer H.

The Social Impact

Not only are Tegu blocks fun, but they have a social impact. The business was founded in Honduras with the idea of helping out a country with an unemployment rate of above 30%. Local Hondurans are regularly hired and receive opportunities for growth and leadership within the company. If that weren't enough, with every purchase of a Tegu product, the company plants more trees or funds a whole day of school for a child without access to education.
With a product this fun and a company that is so caring, it's hard not to love Tegu, and the products listed here are only the beginning! Be sure to check out the full Tegu catalog to find out which one is right for you.

Classic 40 Piece

Create amazing structures and wonderful memories with the classic Tegu block 40 piece pack. Coming in four styles (tints, natural, jungle, and Nelson), the classic Tegu pack is the perfect purchase for kids who want to experience as many combinations as possible.

What's included:

40 Magnetized Tegu Blocks in seven shapes

Large storage box

The Tegu Story booklet filled with build ideas and the Tegu story

On-The-Go Sets

This Tegu pack is perfect for families who are constantly on the go. Available in four sets, these Tegu mini packs come with their own carrying case to make sure you don't lose any of the pieces.

What's included:

Six magnetized Tegu blocks

High quality carrying case

Building ideas

Classic Wood

This set is perfect for more retro-minded families. The classic wood Tegu package includes 22 slick wooden blocks that can be used to create tons of different wooden structures and shapes.